Between (or Beyond) Neurology and Psychiatry

Abstract

The recent Renaissance of ‘bridge disciplines’ such as neuropsychiatry and behavioural neurology marked an important milestone in the gradual process of psychiatry and neurology edging closer together in the effort to understand the brain bases of behaviour. Neuropsychiatry has traditionally been seen as a subfield of psychiatry, partly due to its ‘top-down’ approach, starting from the mental and behavioural manifestations that occur in patients with overt brain disease. Conversely, behavioural neurology has traditionally been seen as a subfield of neurology, partly due to its ‘bottom-up’ approach, starting from overt brain disease and focusing on its behavioural consequences. Although the necessity for establishing comprehensive training programmes for neuropsychiatry has been widely accepted, ad hoc curricula have yet to be developed in the vast majority of countries. It is clear that modern neuropsychiatry entails a combination of scientific innovation and ancient wisdom, as it becomes apparent from the analysis of philosophical thought focusing on the relationship between the brain and behaviour.

Keywords

Neuropsychiatry implies that its practitioners—neuropsychiatrists—are very familiar not only with the above-cited clinical skills ad methods of investigation but also with the signs and symptoms of a range of central nervous system disorders and the psychology of human motivation and desire